In his book of ki, Tohei sensei claimed to have accomplished some extraordinary feats. He's claimed, for instance, that he took on 7-8 judokas and bested them all. I know Tohei's technique is impeccable (I've seen it on videos and he's 10th dan for a reason!) but can anyone here corroborate his claims?

Well, I can't corroborate it exactly, this happened well before I was born, but I believe the instance that Tohei sensei is talking about happened at a southern California judo championship. Tohei thought he was going to give an aikido demo, and they sent all of the champions from the various weight classes at him at once. Supposedly this was the first time that Tohei had done a randori in this manner, and was embarrased when he stepped off of the mat only to be greeted with overwhelming applause. This was captured on film, for one of the news shorts they used to play at movie theaters. That's where Suzuki sensei, eighth dan Maui Ki Society and former chief of police in Maui saw Tohei sensei for the first time. Suzuki sensei then had the opportunity to meet Tohei sensei, and well as they say, the rest is history. Unfortunately people don't always have the smarts at the time to realize what might be historically significant, so as far as I've looked I have not been able to find any footage of the event. But this information has all been corroborated by Chris Curis sensei, cheif instructor of Maui Ki Society and main student of Suzuki sensei.

It does seem sort of unlikely that one man could put on such a performance, but Tohei sensei is truly a master, and masters can do some pretty unbelievable things. I just got back from a seminar with guest instructor Shinichi Tohei sensei, Koichi Tohei sensei's son. He is a young man, and his aikido is absolutely brilliant. Watching and learning from Shinichi sensei has made it much more believable that the event in which Tohei Koichi sensei threw judoka around like ragdolls is not completely blown out of proportion.

"I believe the instance that Tohei sensei is talking about happened at a southern California judo championship. Tohei thought he was going to give an aikido demo, and they sent all of the champions from the various weight classes at him at once."

The way I've heard it for thirty years is that Tohei went to Hawaii to introduce aikido at a judo tournament. This would explain your understanding that:

"That's where Suzuki sensei, eighth dan Maui Ki Society and former chief of police in Maui saw Tohei sensei for the first time."

As his demonstration for this judo tournament, Tohei sensei invited the winners of each weight class to attack him simultaneously. And he beat them easily.

You should realize that Tohei was very experienced in Judo, himself, and was very confident when he met Morihei Ueshiba but Osensei startled him as he did everyone who ever tried to grab him. So Tohei did know how to exploit the expectations of judo players to awe them. My sensei did the same thing in France, only he had the judoka attack with bokken, chairs and such.

Those old-time demos were spectacular. Too bad there aren't more tapes of those things. If you know how to find a tape of Tohei's demo, would you post the link?

An important point to remember is one can always be thrown off or mystified by new or different techniques. The introduction of different techniques can always catch you unprepared if its the first time you have seen it or have not given a counter to a move some thought.I am always thrilled at unexpected achievements and ways of challenging our pride or humility.

this is the beauty of aikido. it deals with the 'now' or the 'absolute'...once you throw and you pin, the conflict is resolved and you and, if you performed perfect aikido , your assailants come out relatively unscathed/unharmed.